Cloth and its manufacture



, No Drawing.

f such cloths,

Patented July 1,1930

WALTER M. FULLER, or onicAeo, ILLInoIs CLOTH AND rrs MANUFACTURE Application filed May as,

Manyv persons, particularly those. of sedentary occupations requiring much sitting in chairs and at desks, fail to securethe full value of their outer woolen garments because thelatter, byreason of the objectionable V shiny appearance which they develop due to rubbing on these artlcles of furniture and otherwise, have to be discarded before they are really Worn out or useless.

The present invention aims to provide Woolen cloth for outer garments and analogous uses in which this weakness or defect is substantially reduced or entirely el1m1 nated, thus enabling the. garment made of theimproved cloth to give full value and increased service. a j f 1 In otherwords, :one of the prime objects of the invention is to supply a Woolenor other similar cloth ivvhich -will not unduly shine or become objection-ably glossy by reason of the performance Of" its ordinary or usual service, or atleast in Which such tendenciesare materially lessened.

By the term Woolen cloth 'I mean all hether technically called woolens or Worstecls or otherwise,which are made Wholly or partly of wool or similar mate rial, such'as, forexample, camels hair.

Oddly enough, in the new and jimproved non-shining or non-glossing cloth, at least in its present preferred form, Izemploy a. shiny material, for example, silk or its equivalent.

One Would not naturally turn toa lustrous t material of this type for use in a cloth de-v signed especially not to become easily or nor; mally shiny, but no difliculty willbeiencouna tered inunderstanding Why they glossy silk, or'itsaquivalent, is'employedifrom the following description of the'invention.

/Voolnaturally contains a certain amount of oil, fat, or grease which preserves its pliability and flexibility, otherwise, it Would be hard, harsh and brittle.

A quantity of such oil. or itsequivalent is present or retained in the Wool of Woolen cloth for this purpose, the amount depending upon several factors, including the nature of the Wcol, the Weave of the cloth, etc.

In sc u ing or cleani g, theWQQl du i g 1925-. Serial in).

its preparation for use'in cloth this natural 011 or degree, and the quired amount,

to keep the Wool in the production the latter to possess and to present a grease is removed to a more or less oil, or its equivalent, in reisadded after such scouring proper condition for of the cloth and-to permit good Wearing qualities proper appearance.

Thus, by reason of the presence of such oil or grease in the Woolen cloth hant, otherwis dead. 1

Hence ordinary Woolen Wool, the strands thereof in are more or lessshiny and brilthe cloth Would look dull or cloth has a certain amount of desirable lustre or sheen, due to the oil thereof present for such purpose, but more particularly to preserve. its flexibility or} pliability.

The shine or gloss which develops on-a' Woolen fabric during service is apparently due more or less to this oil or grease which is brought to the surface by the'animal heat of the wearer of the garment and by the heat arising through the friction torwhich the clothis subjected, as by rubbing on the seats or arms of chairs or on desks or tables.

On rough cloth,

With a substantial or high nap, the earing off of the nap progressively removes or eliminates the portion of the.

wool on Which it on :the surface of eliminating the ool on. which paratively smo occurs as it becomes shiny the cloth,.thus more or less gloss by Wearing off the it develops, but with a com-' 0th, cloth, the disagreeable and unsightly shine occurs more readily, because the fabric is not'Worn down or off so much as the gloss appears.

When the napis Worn nally rough fab threads of the t oflof even an origithe remaining strands or threadbare goods are all ric, hen

more orless in the same plane or parallel planes on the outer surface of the goods and they for due tothe lack this reason collectively look shiny of miscellaneous dispersion of the light rays from their brilliant or lustrous surfaces.

Of course, when the nap is Worn 01f of even an initiall g a s thus impa y rough piece of goods, the rted. to the cloth remains less a new nap is raisedas is sometimes temporarily done by a carding process. V

A rough goods may not'show the shine so readily while the nap remains thereon, because the fibers constituting the nap pro1ect or extend in many directions, and, although each one is lustrous and more or less shiny, yet the refiectedlight rays, by reason of the miscellaneous or heterogeneous disposition of the many projecting fiber ends, are transmitted in all directions and do not act more or less cumulatively to present a shiny appearance.

To do away with or to reduce any tendency of the goods to shine unduly, it is desirable to lessen the glossy oil content of the wool to decrease theoriginal lustre and, at the same time, to favorably increase the brittleness of the wool fibers, whereby to modify their wearing characteristics, but a cloth composed solely of such dull, harsh and still" strands of wool would be dead in appearance and would lack adequate pliability.

It is essential, therefore, to compensate,

in some way, for such lack of lustre and toprovide means in the cloth'which willcooperate with such brittle and stiff wool fibers to form a cloth of reasonable and satisfactory flexibility.

In the preferred embodiment of my in vention,.this is accomplished by interweav of silk' ing or interlacing strands or threads with the woolen strands so that the silk comes to the top or face of the goods in some, but not in excessive, degree.

These smooth, shiny, silk strands, which may be either single or multiple, straight or twisted, desirably, but not necessarily, constitute a portion of both the warp and woof, that is, extend in both directions, coming somewhat to the surface, but also preferably in larger measure located at the back of the goods depending of course upon the nature of the weave.

The reason for permitting the interwoven or interlaced silk to come to the surface or outer face of thegoods at intervals, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, is to make-up or compensate, wholly, or in part,

for the lack of shine or lustre of the wool itself due to its reduced amount of oil.

Stated differently, that portion of the shiny silk on the surfaceof the cloth livens up the dull or dead appearing wool of decreased oil content.

The interwoven orinterlaced silk fibers or threads being strong, flexible and smooth, give the cloth the needed strength and pliw ability'which it would not otherwise have because of the stiffness and brittleness of the unusual type. and kind of wool fibers emplo ed. p

The silkfitself can withstand relatively severe and sharp bending without breaking, it

has great strength, and its strands, whether straight or twisted or smooth, consequently, such silk assists in securely holding or binding the somewhat brittle interwoven wool strands together and permits the comparatively rough and harsh wool fibers to slip or slide thereon, hence affording the goods the required degree of flexibility and pliability, which the cloth, if made of the wool alone, would not have.

It may be stated succinctly, therefore, that the silk compensates for the lack of adequate lustre in the wool, it gives strength to the garment, it holds the wool fibers together, it permits play of the fibers or strands of the cloth on one another, and it gives the goods the necessary pliability.

Viewed in another way, the novel non glossing cloth has an interwoven or interlaced silk framework in and on which the brittle, harsh and dead appearing woolen fibers are mounted, such framework affording pliability to the fabric as a whole and, because not wholly concealed, lending its lustre in a measure to the otherwise dull fabric.

In some cases, it is convenient or desirable to embody the silk strands in the wool strands, but, in such instances, it is preferable to twist the strands, yet not too tightly, whereby the silk will, at intervals, be on the surface of'the goods for thereasons above indicated.

The looseness of the twist is also employed so that the silk may not merely bind the wool fibers together, butgive them also acertain amount of-play or slack or looseness necessary to secure the desired pliability in the goods.

In the new interwoven or interlaced silkwool goods, owing to the abridged oil content of the wool, the tendency to shine or gloss over is correspondingly lessened, and althoughthe wool'fibers are more brittle or stiff, yet, when thus bound or tied together by the silk, they wear well, possibly better than the softer fibers of more oil, and the goods,-due to the brittleness of the incorporated wool fibers, tends to wear slightly rough instead of smooth, such tendency thus aiding in the prevention of the development of the shine.

As to the amount of curtailment of the oil in the wool and the quantity of silk to be used in the interweaving or interlacing, this varies greatly, depending upon the characteror nature of the wool and the type of weave of the cloth.

In some cases, the oil may be reduced to one-half that now ordinarily used under'like for the lack of oil, but this, of course, depends upon the manner of interweaving with the wool and other factors.

In general, the oil is decreased an amount so thatthe quantity of silk needed will not render it unduly or objectionably conspicuous in the goods. 1

The incorporated silk may be of the same color as the wool, or it may be of a different color or colors, the latter rendering possible the production of'woolen fabrics presenting uncommonly pleasing and artistic characteristics.

If desired, the silk may be used in somewhat excessive degree, or, in the weaving or interlacing, it may be brought on the surface of the goods in substantial measure to give the fabric an original sheen or lustre greater than that which WOOl alone, as now used, would have. I

WVhile I have mentioned silk specifically, as the compensating material to be employed because of the lessened quantity of oilin the wool, other materials may be used with more or less satisfactory results, but so far as I know, at present, silk seems't'o be the best because of its qualities above noted.

I am aware that silk and wool have been used conjointly in underwear, socks, neckties, etc, but, so far as I am advised, it has never been used in the manner and for the purpose herein presented.

I am further cognizant of the fact that threads of silk, as stripes, have heretofore been used on the surfaces of woolen goods, but such stripes do not perform the functions of the interwoven silk strands or threads in my improved goods.

So far as my knowledge extends, there is not on the market todaya woolen cloth suitable for use in outer garments which has the characteristics of my novel and improved cloth producedin the mannerspecified.

Those skilled in this art will readily under stand that the invention is not limited and restricted to the precise and exact details presented because these may be modified 111 more or less radical degree without departure from the heart and essence of the invention and without the sacrifice of any of its substantial and material benefits and advantages.

I claim y 1. In the method of making woolen fabrics,

V the removal of a sufficient portion of the oil of thewool to reduce its flexibility and interlacing strands of such wool with compensating strands of a material of greater flexibility to give the resulting fabric adequate pliability.

2. In the method of making woolen fabric, the removal of a suflicient'portion of the oil of the wool to reduce its oil content below normal and thereby reduce its" flexibility and interlacing strands of such wool with comfabric adequate pliability,

pensating strands of silk to 3. In the method of making woolenfabric,

the removal of a sufficient portion of the oil of the wool to reduce its lustreand interlacing strands of such woolwith strands ofa compensating shiny material. 1 i 4. {In the method of making woolen fabric,

give the resulting J the. removal of a sufficient portion of the oil of i the wool to reduce its oil content below normal and thereby reduce its lustre and interlacing strands of such wool withstrands of silk to compensate for the reducedlustre of, the

with strands-of silk of greater flexibility and greater lustre to compensate for the reduced pliability and lustre of the wool. 4

V I. In the method of making woolen fabric,

the removal of a suificient portion of the oil 1 of the wool to reduce its oil contentbelownors mal and thereby decreaseits flexibility and lustre and interlacing strands of such wool with strands of silk of greater flexibility and greater lustre to compensate for the reduced pliabilityand lustre of the wool and with a portion of the silk on the surfaceof the goods. v p M 8. In the method of making woolen fabric,

the removal of a suflicient portion of thefloil,

of the wool to decrease the'strength of the lat ter and interlacing strands of such wool with strands of asmaterial of greater strength to compensate for the reduced strength of the r wool.

9. A woolen fabric composed of strands of wool of a pliability less than normal interlaced with strands of silk, the latter compensating for the the. reduced pliability of the wool.

10. A woolen fabric composed of strands of wool of a lustre less than normal interlaced with strands of silk, the latter compensating for the reduced lustre of the wool.

11. A woolen fabric composed of strands of wool of a pliability and lustre both less than normal interlaced with compensating strands of silk.

12. Awoolen fabric composed of strands of wool of an oil content less than normal interlaced with compensating strands of silk.

13. A woolen fabric composed of strands of wool of a pliability and lustre both less than normal interlaced with compensating strands of silk which come to the front surface of the cloth at intervals.

14; A-woolen cloth composed of strands of wool of-a lustre less than normal interlaced with compensating strands of silk which come to the front surface of the cloth at intervals. 7

15, A woolen cloth composed of strands of wool of a lustre less than normal interlaced ,with strands of silk which come to the front surface of the goods at intervals sufiiciently to compensate for the reduced lustre of the wool.

16. A cloth having at least a portion of its strands composed of twisted wool and silk. 17. 'A woolen cloth composed of wool the oil content of Which has been reduced sufliciently to decrease'its flexibility and to lessen its lustre interlaced with relatively-smooth strands of a material of greater flexibility and lustre, such material compensating for the specified diminished properties of the wool, whereby the cloth has adequate pliability and sheen. I I

18. A wool cloth composed of wool the oil content of which has been reduced sufiiciently to decrease its flexibility and to lessen its lus ter interlaced with a sulficient amount of relatively-smoothstrands of a compensating material of greater flexibility'and lustre .to give the cloth a pli'ability and sheen approximating that of normal Woolen cloth.

I 19. A wool cloth composed of wool the oil;

content of which has been reduced below normal sufliciently to decrease its flexibility and to lessen its lustre interlaced with a suflicient amount of compensating silk to give the cloth a pliability and sheen approximating that of normal woolen cloth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WALTER M. FULLER. 

